Politico's Evan Thomas Contradicts Michelle Obama: 'You Can’t Count' on President 'To Make the Tough Decisions'
Michelle Obama said at a campaign stop in Philadelphia Wednesday, "When we need a leader to make the hard decisions to keep this country moving forward, you know you can count on my husband, your president."
On PBS's Inside Washington Friday, Politico's Evan Thomas surprisingly said, "That’s precisely wrong. You can’t count on him to make the tough decisions, and I think that most voters sense that" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA: When we need a leader to make the hard decisions to keep this country moving forward, you know you can count on my husband, your president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
A few minutes later:
GORDON PETERSON, HOST: You know, Peter Hart’s polling shows that they’re not out there pounding on doors the way they were in 2008.
EVAN THOMAS, POLITICO: Well, I think their thought was that they could back into it because the Republicans are fools and Romney’s a bad candidate. That’s clearly not true according to the polls.
But what’s really true is we just heard the first lady say, “You know you can count on him to make the rough decisions, to make the tough decisions.” That’s precisely wrong. You can’t count on him to make the tough decisions, and I think that most voters sense that. That’s the problem.
This really has been a tough June for the President.
Imagine what's going to happen if the Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare in the coming weeks.
Yikes.
To receive my articles hot off the presses follow me on Twitter ow.ly/btalc and Facebook ow.ly/btald.
— Noel Sheppard (@NoelSheppard) June 9, 2012
- Noel Sheppard's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Mooch is starting to get
Submitted by hatfield on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 5:40pm.
Mooch is starting to get schooled. She will not like graduation much.
When he was first nominated
Submitted by StarAZ on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:57pm.
When he first floated onto the scene, Michelle was quoted as saying something like why him, he's never done anything.
and he still has't!
Submitted by russedav on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 7:54pm.
Except blame others for his incompetence and spend hours ogling himself in the mirror, proof the girls can't possibly be his or Michelle his real "wife" since either would require time away from the mirror self-adoration he can't stand. The plus-side to that is that unlike Hitler such debilitating lunatic egomania means he likely won't be able to engage in such wanton, lawless violence as Adolf's meat tenderizer did.
oh come on... he's made some
Submitted by angus young on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 8:24pm.
oh come on... he's made some difficult decisions... his basket ball brackets...which golf course to play, where to send Michelle, his kids and their entourage for a "working vacation"... which Hollywood star to host a fund raiser for him... difficult decisions all.
Schooled
Submitted by redwood0509 on Mon, 06/11/2012 - 9:21am.
By the grandson of U.S first Communist candidate for the presidency....the Newsweek hagiographer who named Obama "God", suddenly, the buyers' remorse is in action....This practitioner of journalistic malpractice is simply trying to cover his rear, having been wrong for so many years, now lecturing to the well heeled "useful idiots" at Princeton, a warm place for Communists to vegetate, he attempt to show "balance"....
Doubting Thomas?
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 5:50pm.
Not too surprising actually since Thomas and others like Jon Meacham and Tom Brokaw admitted to knowing little about the real Obama after he was elected in November, 2008.
Remember? I saw the exchange as it was broadcast and was dumbfounded.
It's well-known now but bears repeating:
THOMAS: There is a slightly creepy cult of personality about all this. I mean, he’s such an admirable –
ROSE: Slightly. Creepy. Cult of personality.
THOMAS: Yes.
ROSE: What’s slightly creepy about it?
THOMAS: It — it — it just makes me a little uneasy that he’s so singular. He’s clearly managing his own spectacle. He’s a deeply manipulative guy.
ROSE: Watching him last night in that speech, he finishes –
MEACHAM: Yeah.
ROSE: — and he sort of — it’s almost like he then ascends to look at the circumstance.
MEACHAM: He watches us watching him.
THOMAS: Watching him!
ROSE: Exactly!
THOMAS: He does –
MEACHAM: It’s amazing.
ROSE: It is amazing.
THOMAS: He writes about this metaphor being a screen upon which Americans will project. He said they want of Barack Obama; I’m not sure I am Barack Obama.
ROSE: Mmm!
THOMAS: He had — he has the self-awareness to know that this creature he’s designed isn’t necessarily a real person, and he’s self-aware enough –
ROSE: Ahhhhhh!
Problem is, of course, that they waited until after helping get him elected to speak up and their supposed critique was balanced by a kind of awe that he was abe to pull it off ... not admitting that it was with their help.
When people like Thomas occasionally offers an actually objective comment it only underscores how negligent they were in not doing it all the time.
Creepy, Cultish
Submitted by williewarner1194 on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 9:52pm.
This is not the first I've read of these comments from journalists but only after the election. Journalists said he was creepy, the way he stared at them, like he wasn't thinking of anything, although his face appeared to be deep in thought. His eyes belied his expressions in appearing "creepy". About the time of the election, I realized how arrogant he was and that the election is about O, then I began observing his interactions with his family. He is distinctly detached. I think he is a Langston Hughes wannabe.
Why
Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 06/10/2012 - 12:34pm.
Why drag poor Langston Hughes into this?
Isn't he the guy....
Submitted by NeoKong on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:14pm.
Who said that the seagulls were happy Obama was elected or something stupid like that...?
It's pretty bad for Mr. O when even big leftie suck ups like Thomas are openly complaining about him and defending Romney.
It seems like every time I turn around there is some prominent liberal who is defending Romney.
I think that was...
Submitted by HeavyChevy on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:46pm.
Bill Weir during Obama's inauguration, something to the effect of "even the seagulls was in awe of Obama" (not the exact wording but close). I thought I was going to lose my lunch when I heard that.
We forget
Submitted by StarAZ on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:54pm.
We forget even big lefty suckups can have moments of clarity.
Seagulls are happy, anyway.
Submitted by williewarner1194 on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 9:53pm.
Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
Tough decisions being what?
Submitted by Antisocial-ism on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:19pm.
Tough decisions being what? 3 wood or 2 iron?
This guy couldn't choose between vanilla and french vanilla.
Ice Cream
Submitted by williewarner1194 on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 9:57pm.
They could name a flavor after him, you know, like Herman said. Herman said he was black walnut. Walnuts, for people who don't know this, are very hard. Cracking one calls for a hammer.
Losing the media support he once had
Submitted by cristo on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:34pm.
That's some admission coming from the guy who once said Obama is " sort of God."
http://www.bluegrasspundit.com/2009/06/newsweek-editor-evan-thomas-calls...
. . or, the left strikes back at the SC
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:35pm.
Noel, you offered:
Imagine what's going to happen if the Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare in the coming weeks.
Well, here's what will happen. The left will escalate the [bizarre] calls for impeachment of the Conservative SC justices. The national media will escalate their want to cast the SC as out-of -touch with the American people, or as Robert Reich just fabricated in a piece on his blog, "The Public's Growing Disdain for the Supreme Court."
(;~/ gary
To paraphrase der
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 6:46pm.
To paraphrase der Schlickmeister - 'it depends on what the definition of "tough" is'. Is it a tough choice between golfing or taking care of Osama Obama bin Laden??? Is it a tough choice between actually doing some Presidential work, or going on another campaign fundraiser?? Is it a tough choice between watching SportsCenter and doing a basketball bracket write-up, or focusing like a laser-beam on the jobs situation? Is it a tough choice between going on anther vacation, or Presidential 'trip', or not sleeping until the economy is fixed?
Ahhhhhhhhhh..................all of these tough choices and tough decisions!!! It's easier to vote 'present'.........................
Whoa, when you've lost Evan Thomas ...
Submitted by ombdz on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 8:51pm.
Seems like the spate of bad news just doesn't stop for Obama. These past two weeks have been nothing short of a disaster - and most of the damage has been from self-inflicted wounds. And we know what it usually means when a campaign starts making a series of unforced errors ... http://bit.ly/qVdDUt
Look what it has taken........
Submitted by GregE on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 9:51pm.
............for some media boobs to finally throw out a criticism or two of the Obama.
Van Jones AND Politico
Submitted by Van Halen on Sun, 06/10/2012 - 12:52am.
Van Jones AND Politico slamming Obama in one weekend?
Folks, things in Liberal-land are far worse than we are being led to believe.
Dumping the Won?
Submitted by HudsonRiverGirl on Sun, 06/10/2012 - 8:06am.
Wonder if the leftists aren't about to dump this Kenyan in order to protect the dem senators and congress-critters.